Today was one of the worst parenting days ever. We left one of our children behind at the hockey arena and did not realize for about an hour.

We had driven in separate cars and left the arena at separate times. We met back up at Co$tco and it took a few minutes for me to realize that Dex wasn't with Stephen and Stephen to realize that Dex wasn't with me. Stephen is the one who realized first what had happened and he RAN to his car as I finally I caught on. Jax, Cars and I sat dumbfounded watching Stephen run off.

I finally came to my senses and called the hockey arena in a panic then I called Spy for her dh's cell number because I knew he was headed back to the arena around that time for Cam's practice. When Spy's dh answered the phone, I heard Cam say Dex's name in the background so I knew that everything was ok. Spy's dh told me that he had just spoken with Stephen (he had Stephen's cell number) as Stephen was racing back to the arena (it is about a 15 minute drive from Co$tco).

Once I knew that Dex was ok I started to cry. Poor Jax and Cars were so silent and worried. Then Cars kept saying over and over again "This is just like 'Home Alone'!".

Dex, of course, was very upset once he realized about 20 minutes after Stephen left that he had missed him and he was left behind. He started to cry and one of Cam's teammates recognized Dex as Cam's friend and came over to ask him what was wrong. Then he told a coach who asked Dex to sit with them. One of the parents let Dex use his cell phone to call us but Dex only knows our home phone number* and of course we were not home. Then a while later Spy's dh and Cam (and Col) came back to the arena for Cam's practice and you know the rest.

So, talk about feeling like a horrible parent. I guess I can very thankful that it happened at a hockey arena and not a gas station or somewhere else. And I am so thankful for Spy's dh and for Cam's teammates.

And, hopefully Dex is not scarred for life. I think Stephen and I are.

*I have been stressing for ages to all three of my kids that they must memorize my cell phone number but they keep saying they don't really ~need~ to so even though I drill it over and over to them, they had not memorized it. Jax always smugly says "It is programmed in the phone" referring to the phone that he and Dex use when they go to the store or the library but neither of them had that phone with them today. Anyway, after today's drilling, I think that Jax finally has it memorized and Cars and Dex are ~almost~ there. Then we'll start working on Stephen's number.